40th annual Chicano Park Day

Flag raising and keynote: Noon, Nita Gonzales, president of Chicano School, founded in Denver by the late political activist Rodolfo “Corky” Gonzalez

Chicano Park will celebrate its 40th birthday today, and it’s easy to see how the world-famous tiny park under the San Diego-Coronado Bridge retains its good looks.

City crews spent this week washing walkways and trimming high tree branches to get ready for Chicano Park Day. They did the work under the watchful eyes of the Chicano Park Steering Committee, the volunteer group that cares for the Barrio Logan park and organizes the annual celebration.

Thousands of people from throughout the Southwest are expected to attend the cultural festival that will feature Aztec and Mexican folk dancing, live music, and hundreds of lowriders.

“Ah, that’s better. You can see the Virgen better now,” said Ramon “Chunky” Sanchez, one of the park’s many founders, as branches fell to reveal a fuller view of a Virgin of Guadalupe mural on a concrete bridge pillar.

Chicano Park was founded shortly after the Coronado Bridge was built and splintered the existing neighborhood. It is home to a collection of about 50 murals painted on the supports for Interstate 5 and the bridge.

Hundreds of neighborhood residents took over a small piece of barren land under the bridge on April 22, 1970, defeating a plan to build a California Highway Patrol office there. They negotiated with the city and state to create a park.

Most murals were painted in the 1970s and reflect the political climate of the times. Cesar Chavez, Che Guevara, Benito Juarez, Frida Kahlo and Emiliano Zapata are among the celebrated. The murals are known worldwide, especially among art lovers and Latin Americans. The San Diego Commission for the Arts and Culture has described them as “the largest, most important collection of outdoor murals in the country.”

Some original artists are involved in the planned restoration of 18 murals, which could begin this summer with a federal grant, said Ismael Salazar, a Caltrans project manager.

The steering committee played a role in preventing damage to the murals during a bridge retrofitting and pushed for additional walkways, a Zapata statue and an events marquee.

The murals depict images of pre- and post-Columbian Mexico and the Chicano movement. Some depict the history of Barrio Logan. One shows people using picks and shovels to plant trees in what would become Chicano Park.

“A lot of the new generations know about the murals, but they don’t know how they got to be,” said Tomasa “Tommie” Camarillo, the steering committee’s longtime chairwoman.

Camarillo, 63, Sanchez, 58, and other park creators conduct tours for students and pass along their love for the park.

Sanchez will perform today with his band, “Los Alacranes.” His son, Mauricio, 29, will play percussion, and his grandson, Tre, 3, will play guitar. Three of his daughters and three granddaughters will dance.

Camarillo is leading the event. Her daughter, Tina, is in charge of security and grandchildren Felicia Castillo, 18, and Lucas Cruz, 17, are helping with booths and cleanup.

“We’re getting a bit older. It’s only appropriate that we pass it on,” Sanchez said.